Revelations

I've had some revelations while I've been here! Get ready, because I'm about to share them with you.

What am I listening to, you ask? Olly Murs, of course! This music video has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm writing about, but I always like background music when I'm reading. Have a listen while you read on.

I haven't driven or ridden (rode?) in a car since January. The only exception is that I've sat in the backseat of a taxi a couple of times. (What's even better is that I'm working on Mackinac Island this summer, and there are no cars on the island, just horses, buggies and bicycles. I just hope I'll still remember how to drive when I come home in September)

I've found that travelling with someone is so much more fun than travelling alone. I am one of those odd people who like being on their own instead of around people, and even I got lonely when I traveled to Galway for a weekend.

You think it's great getting snail mail in the states? It's even better when you're living abroad! I love opening my mailbox and finding a letter or getting an e-mail saying I have a package waiting at the front office. I know that people care when I'm getting mail that's coming from a different county.

I've had three glasses of diet coke (yes, I've counted) since I've been here. One at Eddie Rockets, one at Spar and one at Subway.

I find pennies, either one cent, two cent or five cent, on the ground pretty much every day. The pockets in my jacket always have small change in them.

Whenever I need food at the grocery store, I have had to walk to the grocery store and then back to my flat. I've never had to walk to the grocery store to get groceries! Rose and I sometimes feel spoiled that we have everything at our fingertips in the states. Here it is much different. I can't exactly drive to the pharmacy to pick up medicine, I have no idea where the closest hospital is, and I haven't sent out any packages just for the reason that the main post office is a half hour bus ride into the city (But I am sending out some packages this week, so watch out for a package, you lucky ducks!)

One thing I'm definitely taking back with me to the states is how reusable bags are used here. Some stores, such as Superdrug, New Look and Eason Books will give you paper bags, free of charge, to put your purchases in. With Tesco, Spar, Penney's and other chains, you must bring your own bag or buy one while you're there. I think this is such a great idea and I'm definitely going to be that girl who takes her fashionable reusable bag with me when I go grocery shopping. This is a great article about reusable bags and how great they are: http://www.emagazine.com/daily-news/reusable-bags-the-irish-way 

I've also learned that if you don't laugh at yourself and your situations, you will have a miserable life. This goes for everyone, everywhere, not just me here studying abroad. This experience is so irreplaceable, and something I've learned here is that LIFE. GOES. ON. And it's a lot more pleasant if you're able to laugh at your mistakes, inconveniences and situations.

One of my "life goes on" mottos is printed on this poster.

Exploring Belfast

After Rose and I got done exploring the Titanic Exhibit, which was just after 11, we wandered by the river and found this lovely lady.

Rose and I walked through Victoria Square, which is this huge mall, half indoors and half outdoors.
While we were walking, we saw an advertisement for a Titanic boat that is made entirely out of balloons. Well, she kept talking about this boat, and how it was trying to make its way into the Guinness Book of World Records, and we walked right under it!
This is the Titanic made out of balloons that we found later.

There is a huge globe in the middle of Victoria Square that you can climb the stairs or take an elevator up to. It looks out to all of Belfast!

We took the train back to Dublin and got home around 8 that night! Successful weekend in Belfast? Yes, without a doubt.

Titanic

On Saturday, April 14, Rose and I went to the Titanic Exhibit, which is on the slipways where the Titanic was built. It is in the Titanic Quarter, which is across the river. The hostel that Rose and I stayed at was in the southern part of Belfast, and the Titanic Quarter is in the northern part. We scarfed down breakfast in the morning and scurried across town to make it to our 9 am tour!

The bronze woman who is set at the entrance to Titanic Belfast was sculpted by Rowan Gillespie and is named Titanica. It is meant to represent hope and positivity.

The building cost £77 million pounds to create, has five stories and stands 126 meters high, the same height as Titanic's hull. The exhibit was £9 and is self-guided.

The Titanic building contains nine interactive exhibitions, including Boomtown Belfast, The Shipyard, The Launch, The Fit-Out, The Maiden Voyage, The Sinking, The Aftermath, Myths & Legends and Titanic Beneath. 

This exhibit, which started on a wall and spilled out to a floor you could walk over, held blueprints of each of the rooms on the ship.

My family used to own the Titanic soundtrack, but sadly we lost it. Whenever I think of that scene in the movie Titanic, where you first see Rose and her big hat, and her fiance and her mother get out of the buggy and marvel at the ship, this song comes on. It gives me goosebumps!

This is a third class bedroom on the Titanic.

A second class bedroom.

A first class bedroom.

This was the last photograph taken of the Titanic. It was taken by Frank Browne at 1:55 pm on April 11, 1912 in Queenstown.

I really enjoyed the Titanic Exhibit and would recommend anyone in Belfast to visit the museum (but book tickets online and book them for early in the day!).

The Night I Fell In Love With Olly Murs

It was just around sunset when Rose and I heard the music coming from MTV Presents Titanic Sounds. We stood at the entrance, hoping a policeman or bouncer would take pity on us and let us in for free. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.

The crowds of people were already inside the gates, however instead of immense crowds around us, we found ourselves in the proximity of a homeless man with his shopping cart of supplies and clothes and a very, very intoxicated man who was peeing in the middle of the sidewalk! Rose and I were watching this drunk man, and after he zipped up his pants, he went over to a father and his two kids and put his hand on the father's back, all friendly-like, and tried to shake his hand. I was so grossed out, I was almost going to throw up! The daughter is probably scarred for life.

We watched more drunk people walk through the gates, and we especially liked the women who tottered over the cobblestone and rocky entrance way to the gates. Pairing high heels with uneven grounds and alcohol is a recipe for disaster. Rose and I found it hilarious and laughed so hard when someone stumbled onto their friend.

We watched the drunk man get taken away by the police as well as a few more drunk people being kicked out of the event. It was a good time, even though we were freezing.

We stood right outside the gates, making up a plan of how we could get into the concert, when all of a sudden a couple came up to where we were standing and sneakily gave us their tickets. The woman said, "You can have ours, we're not going back in there. You can try to see if they will work!" (Why they left before Olly Murs came on was beyond me!)
Rose and I gave each other looks, but we weren't going to pass up an opportunity like this. We  thanked the couple and gave each other pep talks for when we were going to sweet talk the guards at the gate.

The guard scanned our ticket and we played dumb, saying we didn't know we couldn't go back in. He believed us, or felt sorry for us, and said we could enter. Rose and I couldn't believe it! We were in the concert, and all it cost us was doe eyes and a few smiles! We walked through the crowd while listening to Katy B on stage.

We pushed through the crowd of mostly 16 year old girls (while that happened I lost my lens cap to my Canon camera! Sad day. But it was worth losing for seeing Olly Murs up on stage. Plus, what do lens caps cost, like $5?) found a great place to stand, to the left side of the stage, with the Titanic Museum as a backdrop behind the stage. We heard a few songs from Katy B before Olly Murs performed! And I swear, when this song started playing and when he sneaked around from the back of the stage, all the girls around me starting screaming his name! I felt like I was 14 again! 

There is something so thrilling about being in the middle of a crowd in an outdoor concert listening to great music.

This is one of my favorite songs by him, Dance With Me Tonight.

This was probably one of the best nights I've had since I've been in Ireland! It was all luck and chance, and we were ready to give up a few times because it was so cold, but I'm glad we waited it out and that a nice couple was willing to give us their old tickets! 

The concert got over around 11. There were buses giving free rides back to the city center, right across from City Hall, and we hopped on one and then scurried back to our hostel.

I Love Belfast!

I love Belfast so much, I went there again! This time I brought my flatmate Rose with, and we went there specifically to see the Titanic Exhibit. It was AMAZING. But let me start in chronological order.

We took an early train into Belfast, which took just over two hours. We dropped our backpacks off at the same hostel I stayed at last time, Lagan Backpackers, and then went to eat at Sakura, a Japanese sushi restaurant.

Ryan and I came here a couple of weeks ago because the sushi bar was pretty cheap. The lunch specials worked like this: orange, blue and red plates are £1.90 and green plates are £2, which means they are about $3 and $3.20. Not bad!

While we were eating, we heard a Taylor Swift song come on the radio. We were listening to an American country artist play at a Japanese sushi restaurant in Northern Ireland. Life was great.

Before and after!

We then walked north to town and found ourselves in City Hall. There are free tours of City Hall at 11, 2 and 3, and it was quarter to 2 when we arrived! Perfection.

Here I am sitting at the Journalist's Table at the Council Chambers room, pretending to take notes. Rose was not amused by my antics.

This dresser was scheduled to be on the Titanic but missed the sail date by three days! It is now used to place your drinks on and is valued at 100,000 pounds.

The tour was just under an hour and I thought it was exceptional. And that it was free was a great bonus, too.
We then walked around the city center, stopping at most of the graffiti-ridden spots.

I have never seen so much graffiti in one city! I actually really like it, because most of it is tasteful graffiti.

We wandered north, past the Albert Memorial Clock, which resembled the Big Ben clocktower in London.

We saw some large, orange trucks by the harbor... we walked towards them, only to find out that there were people dressed in orange jumpsuits, giving out free Fanta soda!
#Winning

Rose and I passed this large fish, which the owner of our hostel, Lagan Backpackers, told us was the really, really ugly fish and a disgrace to Belfast.
(I thought it was kind of cute)

By this time we were on Donegall Quay, which is right by the River Lagan.

Our plan was to visit the Titanic Museum and see if we could pick up our tickets for the next morning. We were smart cookies and booked our museum tickets online. The tours were all full, except for at 9 am on Saturday. #winning, again!

We passed the two yellow cranes, which are named Samson and Goliath, after figures in the Bible. They are settled in the shipyard of Harland & Wolff, the same contractors who built the Titanic, as well as the Olympic and Britannic.
Harland & Wolff was formed in 1861 by Edward James Harland and Gustav Wilhelm Wolff. After Harland died, John Andrews became the general manager in 1907.

I didn't take the below picture, but it shows the crane brothers Samson and Goliath.

The guards (yes, there were guards outside the Titanic museum) shooed us away before we could even ask for our tickets. Apparently, there was a huge event going on that night. We walked around to the backside of the museum and saw a huge stage set up!

Rose had heard about MTV coming to the Titanic Museum on Friday night, advertising their event as MTV Presents Titanic Sounds. No, no, Celine Dion wasn't going to be there singing My Heart Will Go On. It was better.
Sean Paul, Rizzle Kicks, Katy B and the handsome Olly Murs were going to be performing! And tickets were only 9 euro!
We tried our best to find tickets online, but we found out about this event on Thursday, and they were all sold out. So, we wandered around the grounds, moping and bitching about how close we are to the concert but don't have tickets, and looking at all the people who were standing in line.

I'll finish the night up in my next blog post. Trust me, you'll want to read it.